FEBRUARY 12, 2009

Thursday

White River dawn

I spent the night in a spacious room at the Boone's Docks B&B located on the White River in Indy's Broadripple part of town.

I wanted to have the full breakfast available at 8:30 so set the alarm for 7:15. This gave me time for a short walk along the nearby Monon Trail at dawn. It was chilly but quiet and the day promised to be sunny.

As I walked along the trail I remembered it from my occasional long runs when training for the Indy 500 mini-marathon. Running that race in May 2000 convinced me that racing wasn't for me. I made my goal of 9:30 minute miles for the 13.2 mile race, but it's not something I want to repeat.

Herron students

I spent most of the day at Herron School of Art talking with students and faculty (more about that on Monday). I had a great time. The students were friendly, smart and enthused about their work. The faculty were thoughtful and very willing to talk about their approach to design education.

In the photo, a group of seniors discuss each others' posters as they prepare their portfolios. There was a good discussion of everything shown, but some work brought the students to their feet. For the previous two posters, students sat in their chairs and talked. Here they jumped up to get a closer work and the conversation become more animated.

Not sure if the change was caused by the personalities or the work itself.

Sun worshipper

It was pretty chilly—I had my jacket zipped up—but in true Midwest form this IUPUI student was soaking up the sun. I was tempted to join him. People who live in California and Arizona don't appreciate our need to bask in whatever sun we get.

Mustn't let the children see!

I'm used to seeing "men's" magazines displayed in stores with plastic panels blocking the cover photos. Apparently some parents, concerned about their children seeing the racy photos, complained to store management. While I don't share that concern, it seems legitimate, if overly protective.

Now t his is just plain ignorant. I was in a men's restroom in a gas station along I-70 and noticed a white metal box, obviously a vending machine, with a shiny aluminum panel on the front. The fact that it was hinged at the top meant that you could lift it up for a peak at...condoms.

Apparently some fathers couldn't handles little Junior's questions about condoms and insisted that even the words be hidden from young eyes. C'mon, now, America. If you can't even talk about condoms with your kids you have a problem.